Obesity is widely recognized as a major public health issue resulting in decrease of quality of life and development of chronic diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis, sleep apnea, etc. Lifestyle changes can be used to treat obesity, but lifestyle changes are not always achievable, especially in long term prospect. Drug therapy is one conventional treatment for obesity, but it is often accompanied by various complications and adverse side effects.
Bariatric surgery is another conventional treatment for obesity. One of the recognized benefits of bariatric surgery is the decreased production of ghrelin. Ghrelin, a neuropeptide which is predominantly produced in the gastric fundus, is the only known hormone that stimulates food intake (orexigenic hormone). It is believed that the decreased production of ghrelin that is associated with bariatric surgery helps promote weight loss. But bariatric surgery is invasive and can be accompanied by considerable surgical complications and/or adverse side effects.